Cannabis-eating grandmother avoids prison

A grandmother who cooked up pies, cakes and biscuits laced with cannabis for herself and her friends walked free from court today after a judge gave her a suspended six-month jail sentence.

Patricia Tabram, 66, who appeared at Newcastle crown court for her sentencing, cuts an unlikely figure as a drug dealer. Her case has attracted wide coverage and she was supported today by pro-cannabis campaigners for whom she has become a cause célèbre.

She said she began using cannabis last year after someone told her it could alleviate medical problems and she was defiant today, saying she continued to use the drug because it was "far better than any tablets you can get from the doctor".

At a hearing in December, the former chef admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply from her remote home in Humshaugh, near Hexham, Northumberland, and said she had given cannabis to four neighbours who had similar health problems.

Police officers had been alerted to her bungalow by locals who were suspicious of her cooking smells.

The police, who found more than £800 of strong "skunk" cannabis at her home in June last year, said she "bore all the hallmarks of any sophisticated drug dealer" and claimed she was dealing in the "traditional way". They said there was evidence she had sold the drug for profit and noted they found cannabis divided into 47 bags in weights commonly used by drug dealers.

Today Judge David Hodson said her offence was so serious only a jail sentence was appropriate. The six-month sentence was suspended for two years, though, with the judge saying he did not want to make Tabram a martyr. He said: "People in this part of the world cannot fail to have noticed that you have been caught up in a media circus. It might be that you have been trying to tempt the courts into making a martyr of you. I am not going to do this."

The judge warned the defendant that if she committed any other offence during the next two years she would serve the original six-month sentence. The judge said: "The cause of this offence stems from your belief in the medicinal benefits of cannabis. It is not for me to make any judgment on the debate, which I acknowledge. The fact remains that it is an offence to possess cannabis with an intent to supply."

The judge ordered Tabram to pay £750 costs and ordered the destruction of the cannabis police seized from her home.

Outside court, the unrepentant grandmother of two said: "Well, I am a free woman. But fining me so much money - I am a pensioner and I get a little over £100 a week."

She said she had continued to use cannabis for herself. "I will not stop medicating with it, because it is far better than any tablets you can get from the doctor," she told reporters, although she added that she had not supplied anyone else since her home was raided.

Speaking of her friends, she said a "young man" had arranged for cannabis to be delivered to their doors, and added that politicians should legalise the drug.

Northumbria police raided her house in May and June last year. During the raid in June officers found 242g of skunk cannabis with a street value of £854. Officers found 47 individual 3.5g (1/8oz) wraps of the drug in her fridge and on her bedside cabinet. The street value of each bag was between £15 and £20.

There was also a set of scales, prosecutor Stuart Graham told the court, and her friends had pooled around £150 each for their supply. There were 31 cannabis plants growing in her loft and another one on her hallway table.

In mitigation, Carl Gumsley, defending, said she had led an "eventful" life and had suffered from several episodes of psychiatric illness over the years.

Tabram has conducted many interviews in recent months and has written a book called Grandma Eats Cannabis that she hopes to have published.

After the court case, Northumbria police released a lengthy statement explaining why they pursued the case.

The statement said: "While it was not proven to whom she intended to supply the cannabis, we believe she is a drug dealer in the traditional sense. Even disregarding who the drugs are for, there is no doubt Tabram is helping perpetuate a criminal cycle as in interview she admitted buying the cannabis skunk for £950."

Despite the reclassification of cannabis last year, Northumbria police said they continued to target dealers and had seized nearly £1m worth of drugs in the past year.